Confident Faith: Building a Firm Foundation for Your Beliefs

by Mark Mittelberg, Lee Strobel (Foreword)

In Confident Faith , Mark Mittelberg assures Christians that we can be confident in our beliefs. There’s no reason to be timid about what we believe, because our beliefs can stand up to the test. Truth isn’t dependent on how a person feels or one’s own point of view, as so many assert. On the contrary, we can determine truth through our five senses, and that truth reliably points to a deeper and unseen reality.

Mark walks readers through twenty arrows that point towards Christian from the intricate design of the universe to archaeological proofs, from the consistent testimony of changed lives to the reliability of the ancient documents of the Bible. After studying these arrows, you’ll put this book down with a renewed confidence in what you believe and why it matters for eternity.

Genres: Nonfiction, Faith, Christian, Christianity, History, Christian Living, Evangelism

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2013

About the author

Mark Mittelberg is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and a leading strategist in evangelism and apologetics-oriented outreach. He is the primary author (with Lee Strobel and Bill Hybels) of the updated Becoming a Contagious Christian Training Course, through which more than a million people have learned to effectively and naturally communicate their faith to others. Mark’s newest book, The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask, is based on a survey of 1000 Christians commissioned through the Barna organization, and deals with the ten issues that believers most want to avoid—but must not! Prior to that Mark collaborated with Lee Strobel to develop The Unexpected Adventure, a six-week devotional designed to inspire Christians and churches to enter into the excitement of sharing Christ. His previous book, Choosing Your Faith ... In a World of Spiritual Options, strengthens the faith of believers and is a great resource to give to friends who are figuring out what to believe — and he’s developed a DVD study course for Christians based on that book, Faith Path: Helping Friends Find Their Way to Christ. Mark also wrote the articles for the Choosing Your Faith New Testament. His other books include the updated Becoming a Contagious Church, which sets forth an innovative blueprint for mobilizing churches for evangelism, and the classic best-seller Becoming a Contagious Christian, which he co-authored with Hybels. In addition, Mark was contributing editor for The Journey: A Bible for the Spiritually Curious, and a contributor to Reasons for Faith: Making a Case for the Christian Faith, edited by Norman Geisler and Chad Meister, and God Is Great, God Is Good: Why Believing in God Is Reasonable & Responsible, edited by William Lane Craig and Chad Meister — which won the 2010 Christianity Today award for best book in the area of apologetics and evangelism. Mark was the evangelism director at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago for seven years and for the Willow Creek Association for a decade. He is a frequent contributor for Outreach magazine, and he was an editorial consultant and periodic guest for Lee Strobel’s Faith Under Fire television show. He and Strobel have been ministry partners for over twenty years. After receiving an undergraduate degree in business, Mark earned a Master's Degree in Philosophy of Religion from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. In recognition of his achievements in the areas of evangelism and apologetics, he was recently honored by the conferring of a Doctor of Divinity degree from Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mark and his wife, Heidi, have two teenage children, and live near Denver, Colorado.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confident. This is a word that I would use to describe my reading choices, my book recommendation, my coffee shop recommendation, and my choice of cookies. This is not a word I would use to describe my faith.

I picked up this book because it kept screaming at me to be read. After reading, "Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus" I wanted to dive deeper into what it would look like to have a deeper, more confident faith.

BAMB this book came along.

Mark breaks up this read into three different sections.
He starts with 6 faith paths that help you determine where your faith started or where it came out of. This was intriguing because to be honest I did not think it mattered (spoiler alert... it does).

He then goes into what he calls, '20 Arrows of Truth.' These arrows break down the truth of Christianity and why we should be confident in it.

Lastly, he talks about 10 barriers that can stop a Christian in their seeking of a confident faith. This section helped me a lot to reflect on why I was not truly seeking a confident faith.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book but I gave it four stars because to me it is a beginning book. I want to take a lot of the topics he covered and dive much deeper and find more answers, which I truly think was the purpose of his book (You sly dog Mark).

I completely recommend this book!

[Jason Isaacs · Rating 5 out of 5]

In “Confident Faith: Building a Firm Foundation For Your Beliefs”, Mark Mittelberg begins with premise that everyone believes something. Even if you think that you believe in “nothing”, then you have developed a belief system about the world as you perceive it. We often inherit a belief system from our parents; as we age we decide to either accept these beliefs or adopt others. Regardless of what each of us believes, some people have more reasons for why they believe what they believe.

Lee Strobel, friend Mark Mittelberg and author of “The Case for Christ”, writes in the foreword “Wherever you are in your spiritual adventure, you’re going to find yourself encouraged and challenged. But most of all, you’re going to walk away with everything you need to find a truly confident faith in Jesus Christ.”

This is where Mittelberg wants to help his readers. He describes six approaches, or “faith paths” that most people have used to arrive at their current belief system; for instance, some people have accepted their beliefs based on the authority of influential people (the authoritarian faith path), others based on mystical experiences (the mystical faith path). Regardless of the approach we have used to support our beliefs, Mittelberg challenges his readers to ask the following question, “We all believe things we hope are true. But how can we be sure? How can we be confident we’ve made the right faith commitments and that our beliefs are built on a solid foundation of facts?”

This book is not an exhaustive or encyclopedic inquiry into every apologetic question. Skeptical readers will certainly point out some areas he missed or will question why he did not spend more time on a particular concern. I believe Mittelberg is providing his readers with a process to develop their belief system and he wants to do so in an accessible way—his book can be used at the starting point for deeper inquiries.

Mittelberg’s process is outlined in a simple way: identify how you have arrived at the place where you are today; consider twenty arguments, or “arrows of truth”, which point to the truth claims of Christianity; and finally, evaluate which of the “ten barriers to belief” are keeping you from deepening your beliefs. Mittelberg encourages his readers to adopt an “evidential faith path”, which relies on examining the evidence for Christianity and drawing a reasonable conclusion from the weight of that same evidence.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to look deeper into the claims of Christianity. The book is explicitly written to encourage people to consider the veracity of the historical evidence used to support the Bible.

Mittelberg’s admonishment at the beginning of the books aptly describes how he wants his readers to engage these ideas,

“Let me encourage you to engage fully in this journey. Yes, it will stretch you to think about things you’ve probably taken for granted, and it might lead you to rethink some beliefs you’ve long held to. But it also promises to help you build a strong foundation for your beliefs and, in the end, to enjoy the assurance and benefits that come with having a confident faith.”

For many, the process outlined by Mittelberg will be the most helpful aspect of the book. Each of us wants to be confident in what we believe; knowing how to start that process can be a daunting task. Anyone who takes the time to carefully implement the process and consider the claims of Christianity will be challenged.

I received a copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers for review

[Bèbè ✦ RANT ✦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confident Faith is about finding out what type of faith you have, discovering what is confident faith, and then how to reach the point of having and exercising confident faith.



Mark Mittelberg provides a way to discover which faith you may have by introducing a quiz that let's you go step by step and see the results. It's pretty interesting with the set up that happens throughout the book and somewhat enlightening.

If you are interested in what other faiths are out there or interested in knowing what your own faith may fall under, I would recommend Confident Faith for you.

[Lyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a great book for people really searching to see if God is real. It gives solid proof, including proof about other religions and why they don't have the solid proof that Christianity does. It was also a good book for a believer that may not actually know beyond just blind faith why we believe what we do. There was only one section that I thought the author was speaking either in a foreign language or rocket science speak. Other than that, he gave great examples and illustrations on Christianity. I have even recommended it to a few people that are standing on the fence and unsure what to believe.

[B. Tyler Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This may well be the most important book you read this year!” ~Lee Strobel

Strobel’s endorsement is no exaggeration regarding the new book, Confident Faith: Building a Firm Foundation for Your Beliefs, by Mark Mittelberg. Originally released in 2008 under the title, Choosing Your Faith (the title of which I actually like better), this edition is a major revision and definitely worth reading.

Confident Faith is an excellent resource that offers insight to people who are Christians and people who are not. I love Mittelberg’s methodology. He starts by establishing what faith really is and how each one of us actually exercises faith in something every day.

The book then offers a brilliant “Faith Path Questionnaire” with 42 questions to help readers discover which of the six most common “Faith Paths” currently characterize their approach to faith.

The next six chapters are dedicated to addressing each of the six Faith Paths:
1. The Relativistic Faith Path: “Truth is Whatever Works for You”
2. The Traditional Faith Path: “Truth is What You’ve Always Been Taught”
3. The Authoritarian Faith Path: “Truth Is What You’ve Been Told You Must Believe”
4. The Intuitive Faith Path: “Truth is What You Feel in Your Heart”
5. The Mystical Faith Path: “Truth is What You Think God Told You”
6. The Evidential Faith Path: “Truth is What Logic and Evidence Point To”

The next section of the book helps readers assess the pros and cons of each Faith Path, and then focuses in on the Evidential Faith Path. It does this by examining the “Twenty Arrows of Truth” which show reasons from science, logic, history, archaeology, and experience that can strengthen our trust in the claims of Christianity.

Finally, in the last section of the book, Mittelberg lays outs the “Ten Barriers to Belief.” These are the most common obstacles that tend to hold people back in their quest for a confident faith:
1. Barrier 1: Lack of Information
2. Barrier 2: Lack of Openness
3. Barrier 3: Intellectual Doubt or Disagreement
4. Barrier 4: Lack of Experience
5. Barrier 5: Lifestyle Issues
6. Barrier 6: Personal Hurts
7. Barrier 7: Control Issues
8. Barrier 8: Apathy
9. Barrier 9: Fear
10. Barrier 10: Oversimplicity

My Top Ten Favorite Quotes From the Book
1. “We all live by some form of faith. Which leads us to the central question: Is ours a well-founded faith? A wise faith? A faith that makes sense and is supported by the facts? One that works in real life and is worth hanging on to?”
2. “We must find out what truly is real and then align our lives and actions to that reality.”
3. “We have to be willing to recognize what is true, even if it flies in the face of what we’ve thought in the past.”
4. “We must beware of turning our traditions – or our family background, heritage, or ethnicity – into an excuse to blindly perpetuate something that may or may not be healthy, helpful, or even true.”
5. “Real knowledge comes when the logical, organizing power of the mind is applied to the real-world experience and data gained through the senses. These two elements are examples of fundamental, undeniable realities. To even try to argue against them, you must first employ them. And, apart from them, nothing could be known.”
6. “My life has been guided by the principle of Plato’s Socrates: Follow the evidence, wherever it leads” ~Antony Flew
7. “Truth is so obscure in these times and falsehood so established that unless one loves the truth, he cannot know it.” ~Blaise Pascal
8. “Reasonable faith moves in the same direction indicated by the facts, though it’s a commitment or step that takes you further than the evidence alone can carry you.”
9. “Don’t forget that you’re not in a neutral position. Right now, you are staking your life on whatever spiritual perspective you’re currently trusting in.”
10. “Down through the ages, countless religious systems have been devised – some quite elaborate – to try to provide ways for us to earn our way back to God. Though he is unimaginably holy, we attempt to appease him and to earn our way into his good favor. What’s really confusing is that some of these payback schemes are constructed under the banner of Christianity. But they confound and confuse the uncomplicated message of grace and redemption that is freely available by choosing faith in Jesus Christ.”

All in all, I give this book a five-star rating. It’s so good I just want to give a copy to everyone I meet! In fact, when I lent my copy to an agnostic college student, she decided to become a follower of Christ after reading the book twice in one week!

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A BOOK TO HELP YOU DEFINE YOUR ATTITUDES ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

Author Mark Mittelberg wrote in the introductory section of this 2013 book, “if you’re a Christian, how certain are you that your faith is based on reliable information---that it’s really true? This book will help you answer that question. And if you believe something other than Christianity, how can you test your beliefs to see if they square with reality? We’ll address that issue, as well… we’ll unpack each of the faith paths, one per chapter. This will help you not only better understand (and perhaps reinforce) the approach you’ve been using to determine your beliefs but also to gain wisdom about the pros and cons of each of the six approaches…

“After that, we’ll apply what we’ve learned… by exploring ‘Twenty Arrows of Truth’ that point to the truth of the Christian faith… The cumulative impact of this information will be to strengthen your confidence in the truth of Christianity…. Finally, the closing section, called ‘Ten Barriers to Belief,’ will identify some of the common impediments that hold us back in the journey toward confident faith.”

In the first chapter, he adds, “My goal is to help you think through which beliefs about God and your spiritual path are worth hanging on to… But before that, I want to help you consider something most people overlook: Which approach to deciding what to believe is most helpful?... you owe it to yourself not only to think about where you’re putting your faith, but also to step back and think about how you’re thinking about it.” (Pg. 9-10)

The “Six Faith Paths” are: 1. The Relativistic Faith Path: ‘Truth is Whatever Works for You.’ 2. The Traditional Faith Path: ‘Truth is What You’ve Always Been Taught. 3. The Authoritarian Faith Path: ‘Truth is What You’ve Been Told You Must Believe.’ 4. The Intuitive Faith Path: ‘Truth is What Your Feel in Your Heart.’ 5. The Mystical Faith Path: ‘Truth is What You Think God Told You.’ 6. The Evidential Faith Path: ‘Truth is What Logic and Evidence Point To.’

The ‘Ten Barriers’ are: 1. Lack of Information; 2. Lack of Openness; 3. Intellectual Doubt or Disagreement; 4. Lack of Experience; 5. Lifestyle Issues; 6. Personal Hurts; 7. Control Issues; 8. Apathy; 9. Fear; 10. Oversimplicity.

He concludes, “When considering matters of faith, why wait until we’re close to death, hoping that we’ll have the chance to ‘make our peace’ and patch things up at the very end---when it’s too late to discover the adventure or to influence others with the truth that we’ve finally embraced? It doesn’t make sense to wait, which is why my challenge to you… is to consider and act upon these things now, so you can enjoy the benefits of a confident faith in Christ throughout the rest of your life here on earth, as well as later, into the next life.” (Pg. 263-264)

This is definitely not a “traditional” book of apologetics (at times, it feels more like a psychological survey); but it will perhaps appeal to those who are seeking to clarify their own beliefs and positions.

[Hannah Dietrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a text I would definitely recommend to someone new to apologetics. The faith quiz in the first chapter brings the concepts close to home by evaluating how a person forms their beliefs. It goes on to explain how evidence can and should be used to strengthen or challenge one’s beliefs. Then it gives a very accessible but brief summary of 20 arguments for the Christian worldview. For the average Christian, this summary would be enough to explain that there are significant reasons behind the faith; however, a critical reader would probably want to gather some of the references sources to dig into the specifics. The book ends with a section on key issues that deter people from believing in God, and then a brief memoir from Mittleberg about when he fully adopted his faith as his own, with confidence.

[Tim Baumgartner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was easy-to-read, yet very encouraging--its title did NOT disappoint!

Author Mark Middelberg walks readers through twenty arrows that point towards Christian beliefs: from the intricate design of the universe to archaeological proofs, from the consistent testimony of changed lives to the reliability of the ancient documents of the Bible (among MANY others–17 to be exact!). After studying these arrows, you’ll put this book down with a renewed confidence in what you believe and why it matters for eternity.

But not only that! He also delves into ten barriers to belief (doubts or obstacles people tend to have), which leads to further confidence.

If you are looking for a spiritual pick-me-up–this is the book to read!

This book has been borrowed by a former student of mine–never to be returned! They liked it THAT much!!! :)

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book, although a bit unbalanced. Like the first part very well, about the paths, but the arrows are too small on each arrow and it could have been much better in total. Still, A solid read to have in your apologetics backpack of books that will give you some good pointers and strategies, that builds your confidence. This is not a in-depth book, but it does give you a starting point to where to go from.

[Pug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and digest, this book was interesting and Biblically-sound. The first half focused (for too long) on six paths to faith, and included a quiz (which wasn't very clear or well done) to figure out your path. I much preferred the second half, which described the various "arrows" to truth. It was fast and simple apologetics.

[Becky Durstenfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent well written book. Even though the author is a Christian, I think everyone, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, etc. could benefit from reading this book, as it helps people think about what they believe and why. I found it wasn't a book I wanted to read straight through so I read a couple chapters each day.

[Eric Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts were good. Had to wade through a lot to enjoy the good parts. Love the premise, but not well written for my style.

[Ella Vee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great bullet points

... and what substantiates these great bullet points will bring it all home. You will not be disappointed. I highly recommend this book.

[Amy Martens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read

Great book to get you thinking and started on which area to research regarding your questions about God and Christianity.

[A.C. Cuddy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Confident Faith – Building A Firm Foundation For Your Beliefs
by Mark Mittelberg
Tyndale House Publishers

“Are you confident in your beliefs? Don’t let doubts or objections intimidate you. Bestselling author Mark Mittelberg will show ho you can enjoy a solid and robust faith that you can share with your skeptical friends or questions family members. There is a firm foundation for your beliefs with:

~ A fun Faith Path Questionnaire
~ The Twenty Arrows of Truth
~ The Ten Barriers to Belief

You can have confident faith. Discover how – today!”

Author Mark Mittelberg has attempted to create a “guide” to walk the believer through the process of how to be confident that the faith commitments and their beliefs are built on a solid foundation of facts.

In order to accomplish this, the book is divided into three sections. Section one contains the “Six Faith Paths’. Included in this section is a “fun” questionnaire that will help the reader to discover how they came to the beliefs they now trust in as well as an explanation of their current approach to faith.

The next section is a chapter-by-chapter explanation of the “Six Faith Paths”. This section is designed to help, and reinforce the approach the believer has using in the beliefs.

The next section contains the “Twenty Arrows of Truth” which point to the truth of the Christian faith. This section also serves as a reference for future use is discussions about faith by providing summaries of the truths.

The last section contains the “Ten Barriers to Belief”. These are common stumbling blocks that can hold the believer back on their journey to a rich and deep faith.

I was intrigued by the title of this book and was looking forward to reading it. For me, this book missed the mark. I felt a very negative vibe running throughout the entire book, from the vague questions in the “fun” questionnaire through the unpacking of the “Six Faith Paths” and into the last chapters. I had a difficult time finishing this book. Therefore, I cannot recommend this book.

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book Tyndale House Publisher, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.

*Reviews of this book were posted at the following locations:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Deeper Shopping, Goodreads, and to be featured on my blog at http://titus3.wordpress.com

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Confident Faith
Building a Firm Foundation for Your Beliefs
By: Mark Mittelberg

I loved this book by Mark Mittelberg. It was like he was here in the room talking to me as I read his book. He states in the beginning of his book that it’s worth spending some significant time reflecting on your faith. Otherwise, as soon as someone comes along who questions what you believe and why you believe that way, you won’t know how to respond. When you’ve spent the time researching, discussing, and seeking wisdom on what you believe about God, you’ll be confident in your faith and your answers will reflect that.

One part of the book uses a Faith Path Questionnaire to identify how you have arrived to your conclusions. Mittelberg then explains in separate chapters each of these paths and gives advice and encouragement to teach you how to become increasingly confident in what you believe. The evidential faith path’s “key elements, logic and sensory experience, are the God-given tools that we use to gain the vast majority of our information, and they are our best resources for examining truth claims and for ultimately deciding what to believe.” Once you’ve proven to yourself, using this method, that the Bible is God’s Word, you can then use it to test all other claims, and be confident in your faith to share it with others.

The last part of the book gives you twenty arrows of truth, reasons you can be confident the Christian faith is true. Then there is a chapter on ten barriers that can block your faith and how to overcome them. This is one book I will keep on my shelf. It is filled with helpful advice and a candid look at God’s Word and how to have your own confident faith.

[Juanita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confident Faith is about finding out what type of faith you have, discovering what is confident faith, and then how to reach the point of having and exercising confident faith.

Mark Mittelberg provides a way to discover which faith you may have by including a quiz for the reader to take and also explaining in detail the different types of faith. It was interesting to learn about these different types of faith and how they compare to my own faith. Mark Mittelberg caused me to re-think and evaluate my own faith and what it consists of.

Confident Faith leads readers to finding and having what Mark Mittelberg describes as true faith. We all have faith, just different kinds of faith. Even though Confident Faith held my interest, I do not consider it a true page-turner. All content was written in an organized manner. There are several areas which state scripture verses and point back to biblical truths.

If you are interested in what other faiths are out there or interested in knowing what your own faith may fall under, I would recommend Confident Faith for you.

Even

I have received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from Tyndale House.

[Matt Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

another "meh" response from me, i'm afraid, when it comes to these recent works of apologetics . . i read this over because it came up as a related title when i finished *why people don't believe* by chamberlain (also not my favorite) . . as i said with the other title, this one was interesting to me just in terms of seeing how certain modern day apologetics is sounding . . in general, though, i'm not the audience for this . . it's written at too popular a level . . and when it comes to this book's approach of the different "faith paths," though i thought it was kind of interesting, there was too much common material, etc., for it to warrant so much of the book . . also was thrown by the impromptu excursions into debunking Mormonism . . i'm fine with it, but it felt like a running bone to pick the way it was integrated . .

in all, this is probably a great book for some . . just not for me . .

[(Abby) Enter the Phantom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm mostly writing this review to prove to my mom I read this.

This was just a bit too...light. It strayed away from the truly hard questions, and just didn't get deep enough into true apologetics for me. It reads more like a guide for a new believer, rather than for someone with truly difficult questions not about the validity of their faith, but regarding God, Himself.

Mittelburg's writing was fine and doesn't bore you, which is a rarity in religious books of this sort..the problem was that it mostly dealt with convincing you to believe in God, instead of answering questions a believer may have.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a "Christian-Living" reader usually... so this was actually really hard for me to finish. I found most of the book pretty tedious, I've been familiar with many of the points he raised for a long time, so it wasn't terribly enlightening. I did like the last chapter, a discussion of things that stand in our way of pursuing a more confident faith. The rest was pretty similar to many general apologetics, and didn't really stand out. This would be helpful for new believers or people who have questions about faith and Christianity.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confident Faith: Building a Firm Foundation for Your Beliefs by Mark Mittelberg was an easy, compelling read. It does what the title says, it helped me build a more firm foundation in my faith. A Confident Faith. Another book I wouldn't hesitate to suggest to everyone.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think this is an excellent STARTER book for anyone questioning what they believe and why they believe it.

[David Kowis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written book with solid logic and plenty of citations.